Kite accessory



Jan. 21, 1 e. T. LEE v 2,820,603

Y KITE ACCESSORY FiledJune 10, 1953 IN VEN TOR. G E OR G E T. LEE BY vATTORNEY United States Patent KITE ACCESSORY George T. Lee, Parrott, Ga.

Application June 10, 1953, Serial No. 360,693

9 Claims. (Cl. 244-155) This invention relates to an aerial toy and moreparticularly to an aerial toy of the sort which is automatically droppedfrom an aerial device, such as a kite, to float to the ground.

The type of toy presented in this invention has particular use asamusement in conjunction with the flying of well known aerial toydevices, such as lighter-thanair balloons or kites, where a person wouldderive pleasure from observing an object floating, falling, or glidingfrom the altitude of the aerial device which is being operated. It canalso be instrumental in demonstrating to children, and adults, thepractical effects of gravity, wind currents, parachuting, and so forth.

Other aerial toys are in existence but they require either the operationof ground control wires for releasing or rely on a somewhattemperamental form of attaching and releasing arrangement in order toattain the desired results. A primary object of the present invention isto provide an aerial toy which is simple in construction and dependablein operation.

Generally described, the present invention includes a heavier-than-airobject, which may be in a form imitating a human or animal figure,having a drag means such as a parachute attached thereto, a retainingmeans for temporarily holding the object on an aerial device, and acontractible releasing means which is initially expanded but whichautomatically contracts and through this contraction operates with thereleasing means to release the object from the aerial device.

Another object of this device is to provide a releasing means whichafter initial setting is self operating to allow a passage of flight andthen automatically release the object from the aerial device. Inconjunction with this, a feature is found in the arrangement of thisreleasing means whereby is permitted the use of an ordinary balloon asone form of achieving the result.

An additional object resides in the arrangement by which initial settingof the device is quick and easy.

Another feature is found in the construction and arrangement whereby thedevice may be manufactured inexpensively.

The foregoing represent only some of the objects of scription taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of the rear of a conventional kite with theinvention positioned thereon prior to release.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the retaining bracket of Fig. 1 after thetoy has been released.

Fig. 3 is an elevation view of the toy in flight. Fig. 4 is an enlargedelevation view of the imitation figure of the toy with parts thereofbroken away.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the imitation figure with the balloonremoved to show a detail.

Referring to the drawings, the novel toy of this invention will bedescribed in conjunction with parts of a conventional kite 10 as it isbelieved that this will bring about a quicker understanding. Kite 10comprises a horizontal member 12 and a vertical member 14 tied togetherto form a cross with front cover 16 thereon. A retaining bracket 18,forming a part of this invention, has a center rectangular plate 20 withhorizontal securing arms 22, 24 formed integrally therewith andextending from opposite sides thereof. Each of the arms 22, 24 isnotched at a respective point 26, 28 and at this point a string or wire30, 32 firmly ties a respective arm 22, 24 to the horizontal member 12of kite 10. Bracket 18 also has formed integrally therewith a protrudingfront member 34 with bent ends 36, 38 connected with bracket 18. Ends36, 38 space member 34 outwardly from plate 20 thereby forming anenclosure 40. Fixed to the front of front member 34 and protrudingoutwardly therefrom is a retaining ring 42 having an inwardly protrudingannular ledge 44 at the bottom thereof. Ring 42 with ledge 44 forms atype of socket opening 46. The foregoing parts form the supportingstructure for the toy proper and would normally remain as a permanentattachment on the kite 10 or on any other aerial device, such as aballoon.

The toy proper, being that part of the entire device which is intendedto be dropped from an altitude, comprises an imitation figure, shownherein as a clown and designated generally at 50, a parachute, showngenerally at 52, and a balloon 54. Through the use of the balloon 54 ininflated condition, and constructed in a particular manner as willhereinafter be presented, the figure 50 is positioned upside down in thering 42 at the time that the kite 10 leaves the ground with theparachute 52 nested in enclosure 40 until such time as substantially allthe air has escaped from the balloon 54 at which time balloon 54 passesthrough ring 42, the figure 50 falls free of kite 10 and the parachute52 opens floating the figure 50 to the ground.

As is apparent in Fig. 1, when the balloon 54 with fig ure 50 securelyattached thereto is inflated and upside down on ring 42 it will not slipthrough socket opening 46 and therefore the figure 50 is temporarilyretained on bracket 18. When the balloon 54 assumes substantial deflatedcondition, such as in the dotted lines of Fig. 1, it will slip throughsocket 46 under the full gravity pull on weighted figure 50. in order toachieve this desired result, figure 50 has a hollow body portion 55,made from plastic, wood, or a similar heavier-than-air material, with anair tube or conduit 56 positioned therein having its ends 58, 60 gluedor otherwise fixed to body 55. A rubber or wood mouthpiece 62 isattached to body 55 and to entrance 58 of conduit 56 in such a manner asto form a tight seal permitting air to enter through a bore 64 inmouthpiece 62. At the other end 60 of conduit 56 a cylindrical attachingbutton 66, with bore 68 and annular flange 70, is secured to body 55 andsealed to end 60 so that air will pass freely through bore 68. Aflexible leather, or similar material, washer 72, preferably circular inshape and larger than the diameter of bore 68, has a portion thereofglued at 74 on button 66 so that when flush the washer 72 covers theopening to bore 68. inasmuch as washer 72 is flexible, it will move outof place under pressure entering from mouthpiece 62 but pressure in anopposite direction on the bottom washer 72 portion forces washer 72 toclose bore 68.

The balloon 54, which may be any sort of conventional flexible bagcapable of being expanded under gas pressure, normally has the neck 76thereof stretched tightly over the flange 70 so that it will remainfixed to body 55 and will expand under air pressure coming a zeecthrough conduit 56 from mouthpiece 62, as for example, when air is blownfrom a persons mouth into the mouth piece 62. According to thisarrangement, the balloon 54 may be. filledwith air and will temporarilyretain the air therein by virtue of the one way valve formed by washer72. As it is necessary in the operation of this device, air is.permitted to escape very slowly and gradually through a tiny pin hole 78in the washer '72 permitting a small amount of air per minute to escapeback through conduit 56 and out the mouthpiece 62. The balloon is veryreadilyfilled with a quantity of air and will retain its expandedcondition for quite awhile during the time that the an escapesthrough'pin hole 78.

Since. it is desirable that the heavy body 55 float after being releasedrather than drop in a free fall, parachute dragmeaps. 52 is. provided soas to be activated alter thebod-y 55 has left the kite 10. Parachute 52is of conventional construction with a canopy 80 of plastic, silk, nylonor the like and a number of shroud lines 8.2;.entending from spacedpoints about the periphery of canppy sli to a. common junction at a hole84 in the back of body.- 55 where they are secured by knotting at 8Q.inside the. body 55'or any other suitable way.

In positioning the device for operation, the balloon 54 in deflatedcondition is inserted from bottom to top through the ring 42 assumingthe position of Fig. 1 with the figure 50 hanging upside down. Theballoon is then inflated by blowing through conduit 56. Valve 12 opensreadily allowing airto enter but closes off under back pressure fromconfined air in balloon 54 and the. only escape is through the tiny hole78. When thedevice is released from the hands it will hang for a.period. of time, depending upon the extent of the inflation. of balloon54, and during this interval the kite is permitted to reach anyaltitude. When the balloon 54 hassassumed substantial. deflation,as-forinstance in the dotted. lines of- Fig. l, the. weight of body 50pulls the now collapsed balloon. 54.. through ring 42 and figure 0-falls free, away from the kite. to a distance suflicient to pullparachute 52 out of confinement in enclosurev 40. When parachute 52clears the kite it jerks figure 50 to lcti h pos tion andin the man r ofst figure is fl ated o. the. ar und it is obyious that; many changes andalterations may be made in the structure shown and described, for ex- I,but not limited to, the bracket 14. can be varied in many ways, the. airescape mechanism now employing valve 7% has many equivalents, othermeans are available to prevent free fall of figure, 50 Therefore, the.

foregoing; descriptiq l: and drawings are not a limitation on the. scopeof th nvention and various alterations, SllbdtiillfiOlfi, eliminationg.changes, and modifications may be made; within, the spirit. of thisinvention and Withi t e SQ PQ' of; the apnended. claims.

Ic aim;

1 In; a toy of; the class; described adapted for attachment on a kite.or the like, a heavier-than-airobject adah fld. t be POsitioned on akite or: the like to rise algft therewith, parachute. means associatedwith said object; and be ngadapted. to he nested with said object on thekite, retaining means adapted. to be mounted 0. 151; kite, an enlargedcontractile body attached to said 7 object; in a pro-selected degree ofexpansion and inselected enlarged condition being expansible to any oneQ a p ll iality of sizes and adapted to engage a portion ofi said:retaining means thereby-retaining said object on said kite,. said sizesof said body being freely pre-select ve, to predetermined theanticipated time delay before said body reaches the shrunken conditionof release, saidxenlai ged body being. adapted to shrink at apreselected rate. during a passage of flight. time depending uponthedegree or original expansion and in shrunk condition becoming disengagedfrom said bracket, thereby permitting said object to drop free of thekite and to fall under the influence of gravity and said parachute,

. adapted for positioning on a kite or the like to rise aloft' 4. 2. Ina toy of the class described adapted for attach-v ment on a kite or thelike, a heavier-than-air object therewith, a protruding portion of saidobject. being adapted to expand to any one of a pro-selected pluralityof available pre-selectible sizes depending upon the desired timeinterval and thereafter slowly contract at a pre-selected rate,parachute. means associated with said object and adapted to be normallynested with said object on the kite, retaining means adapted. to bemounted on the kite releasably retaining said object, a portion of saidretaining means defining anopening engaging an expanded portion of saidobject but becoming disengaged from said object portion upon thecontraction there of after a' preselected interval of time dependingupon the degree of original expansion, said different sizes of saidexpansible protruding portion determining the time delay from initialexpanded size when engaged on said bracket to substantial retractedcondition when dis-engagement takes place thereby permitting said objectto drop free of the kite and to fall under the influence of gravity andsaid parachute. i

3. In a toy of the class described adapted for attachment on a kite orthe like, an expansile gas tight bag having an entrance thereto throughwhich said bag maybe inflated by gas. to a preselected size, means onsaid bag for preventing substantial escape of gases confined therein,control means on said bag permitting controlled slow emission of saidgases confined therein governed by the extent of original, selectedinflation, a weight associated with said bag means associated with saidweighted bag to prevent free fall thereof, and retaining means forattachment to a kite orthe like having an open portion thereof smallerthan said bag in any degree of inflation, said retaining means normallyretaining said bag on said kite at the pre-selected degree of ainflation until substantially all of the gases therein have emittedtherefrom at which time said weighted bag becomes free of said kite andfalls under the etfec t of free fall preventing means, by virtue ofwhich said bag is retained on said kite during the ascent thereof andthe time interval ofdrop is governed by the extent of inflation of saidbag.

4. In a toyofthe class described adapted for attachment on a kite or thelike, a heavier-than-air object having a conduit formed therein, aballoon having the open neck thereof sealed around one entrance to saidconduit and being inflatable to one of many sizes to predeterminethetime of contraction thereof,- a valve in said conduit controlling theentrance to said balloon to allow the entrance ofga'sthercin and toprevent sudden or rapid escape of gases confined in said balloon, meansassociated with said" conduit permitting gases in said balloon to escapeslowly and gradually thereby governing the time interval between initialinflation andsubstantial contraction, retaining means adapted forpositioning on a kite or the like, and means on said object forpreventing free fall thereof, said last mentioned means being adaptedfor and initially inoperably positioned in association with; said kiteor the like, said retaining-means normally retaining said balloonbeginning in any one of its pre-selected sizes until substantially allthe gases confined therein have emitted therefrom whereupon said balloonis released by the deflation thereof and after the pre-set delay,whereby said object will be released to descend from said kite.

5. In a toy of the. class. described adapted for attachment on an a l ese a eav er-thence o j t ad p for s tion n on s ae 1: d i t ri e alofttherewith. mean as ociated w th 1d bj ct and over.

able. by ai when. nder he. n l ct r i v to. pr the free all f. saiobject. l asab e'retainin e ns associated with said object and saidaerial, device, and including a bracket portion adapted to be mounted onsaid aerial device, said retaining means having a coni tractible portionmounted on said bracket portion, said contractible portion beingextensible to any one of a plurality of pre-selected sizes and in any ofsaid selected sizes of extension engaging said bracket portion therebybeing temporarily attached thereto but in substantial retractedcondition dis-engaging from said bracket so as to temporarily retainsaid object on said aerial device, said different sizes of saidcontractible portion determing the time delay from initial expanded sizewhen engaged on said bracket to substantial retracted condition whendis-engagement takes place, said contractible portion in substantialcontracted condition becoming dis-engaged from said bracket portionthereby permitting said object to fall from said aerial device.

6. In a toy of the class described adapted for attachment on a kite orthe like, a heavier-than-air object having a conduit formed therein, aballoon having the open neck thereof sealed around one entrance to saidconduit, said other entrance of said conduit being available to receivegases under pressure, a valve associated with said conduit to admit gastherethrough and into said balloon and said valve arranged to becometemporarily closed to retain gas in said balloon when said balloon isunder gas pressure, a small opening associated with said valvepermitting gradual emission of said gases in said balloon therebygradually causing said balloon body to diminish in size, meansassociated with said balloon and said object to prevent free fallthereof, a bracket for attachment to a kite or the like, a protrusion onsaid bracket forming a retaining hanger for said balloon whensubstantially inflated, said balloon being positioned on said hanger ata pre-selected degree of expansion and in such a manner as to becomedisengaged upon deflation thereof thereby falling with said object awayfrom the kite whereby said toy is automatically released from the kite,after a pre-set interval of time.

7. In a toy of the class described adapted for attachment on a kite orthe like, a heavier-than-air object having a conduit formed therein, aballoon having the open neck thereof sealed around one entrance to saidconduit, said other entrance of said conduit being available to receivegases under pressure, a valve in said conduit openable to admit gastherethrough into said balloon and then temporarily closable to retaingas in said balloon, a small opening associated with said valvepermitting gradual emission of said gases in said balloon therebycausing said balloon body to diminish in size, a parachute attached tosaid object, a bracket for attachment to a kite or the like, and aprotrusion on said bracket having an opening formed therein, saidballoon being positioned after pre-selected size thereof through saidopening above one side of said protrusion with said object on the otherside, said balloon when inflated being too large to pass through saidopening but when reaching substantial deflation after the pre-selectedtime interval being pulled from said protrusion by the weight of saidobject as when the kite is above the ground, said parachute opening toprevent free fall of said object after dis-v engagement from said kite,after a preset interval of time.

8. A toy adapted for attachment on and dropping aloft from an aerialdevice, a bracket member for attachment to said aerial device, aprotruding support member on said bracket member having edge portionsthereof spaced apart to form a support gap therebetween, a flexiblegas-tight container having a closable opening therein through which agas may be passed to expand said container to a selected degree of size,closure means for said container opening, a gas escape means for slowlyemitting said confined gas from said container, 8. portion of saidflexible container protruding from said container and remaining smallerin size than said support gap when said container is expanded to anyselected size larger than said support gap, a weight on said containertending to pull said container from its position on said bracket butbeing prevented from such action while the container is expanded, and anair drag means associated with said weight, said container beingpositionable on said edge portions in any one of a number ofpro-selected sizes of expansion by virtue of which the weightedcontainer may be dropped from said aerial device after a pre-selectedinterval of time and said time of drop may be varied in successive dropssimply by changing the degree of expansion of said container.

9. A toy adapted for attachment to and dropping from an aerial devicesuch as a kite, a bracket member adapted for attachment to said aerialdevice and having bracket support edge portions protruding therefromforming a support opening therebetween, a flexible gas container memberhaving a means thereon for receiving gas therethrough into saidcontainer to expand same, a slow emission means on said containerpermitting gradual escape of said gas thereby causing gradual reductionin size of said container so that the time for collapsing said containerfrom initial operation of said slow emission means depends upon theextent of original expansion thereof, a weight member attached to saidcontainer with the junction thereof on said container being smaller insize than said support opening irrespective of the degree of expansionof said container, said flexible container being capable of passingthrough said support opening in substantial condition of collapse andincapable of passing through said opening in any one of a number ofdegrees of expansion depending upon the initial chosen size thereof, byvirtue of which said expanded container will be retained on said bracketas the aerial device ascends and falling therefrom when substantiallyall gas has escaped and the time delay of fall may be adjusted insuccessive falls by varying the initial container size.

Segeberg Oct. 21, 1924 Berthene Nov. 13, 1951

